


A Cave Dwelling Witch

by ukulele_villian



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe Knights, Alternate Universe With Magic, BB-9E Is A Non-Binary Fey, Demons, Eldritch Themes, Enemies to Friends, Finn Recruits A Weirdo For His Mercenary Group, Gen, He Gets A Friend In The Process, Implied FinnPoe, Implied FinnRose, Implied Kylo Ren/Rey, Knight Finn, Platonic Relationships, Wizard Kylo, moderate descriptions of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-11-29
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21608869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukulele_villian/pseuds/ukulele_villian
Summary: “Magic’s dead,” Poe had told him, and continued to balance his nobel sword’s hilt precariously on the palm of his flattened hand, one part carnival juggler, and soldier too. The whole ensemble had a foolish grace to it that reminded Finn that despite Poe’s arrogance and jest, there was a cleverness that was valuable on a team. “Rose is a decent medic and you’ve got me. A trio is fine.”Not where they intended to go, it wasn’t.Sir Finn, a knight under Castle Organa, sets off to recruit a mage that will help complete a mercenary team tasked with an impossible mission. With little leads or hope, he employs the reclusive and strange Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Finn & Ben Solo, Finn & Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren & BB-9E
Comments: 7
Kudos: 16
Collections: Finnlo-Focused Multiship Anthology 2019





	A Cave Dwelling Witch

  
  


The charm of small villages wore off for Finn when he realized just how unwelcoming their taverns could be. He prided himself on withstanding barracks life, but there was no badge of honor in sitting at the bar waiting for ghost stories; failing to make eye-contact with the village tillers who were lost in their mugs and glasses of ale. 

Finn sipped his drink, trying to hold his tankard the way he’d seen Poe do so once at a party. 

Poe had laughed at Finn and his idea, swung his own greatsword about during training, while ignoring the very real need they had for magic. The larger the arc of his blade, the stronger Poe’s argument held into his own mind.

“Magic’s dead,” Poe had told him, and continued to balance his nobel sword’s hilt precariously on the palm of his flattened hand, one part carnival juggler, and soldier too. The whole ensemble had a foolish grace to it that reminded Finn that despite Poe’s arrogance and jest, there was a cleverness that was valuable on a team. “Rose is a decent medic and you’ve got me. A trio is fine.” 

Not where they intended to go, it wasn’t. 

Finn swirled his drink to and fro in the present, hoping to catch mention of anything but farmers, turnips, plagues in children, and dire wolves in the snow. 

Finn could take Poe telling him he’d been wrong, a younger brother can shrug off his siblings, or a soldier can laugh with his platoon. It was Rose’s reaction that would hurt him; Rose and her damned constant devotion to her sister. He could imagine the way her face would fall, and then quickly still itself when he’d return to tell them he hadn’t found a thaumaturgist. 

‘That’s fine,’ she’d say, shoving a satchel of grain into her horse’s side bridal bag. ‘We’ll find The Skywalker ourselves.’ She would then be silent for a few hours, returning to them only after she’d had something to drink and rode her horse in circles around the castle. 

Rose’s devotion to their mission could only go so far. Her love for her sister though ? That had no limitations. Finn wasn’t stupid, yes he sometimes asked the questions that should have been obvious (‘Why is she crying’, ‘Why is Poe laughing when he should be scared’, ‘Isn’t that how magic works’ ‘Why don’t we have a plan’). That didn’t change that he could read Rose’s face like looking at his own in a mirror. Rose didn’t have to hide that she was partially selfish in going with them to the edges of the world, and she didn’t have to hide that she was losing hope. 

He could see it all in her hours of training and maintenance, quiet and aloof. He wished she’d realized that he wouldn’t judge her for it. There was no shame in doing something for a family, for yourself; to do something outside of a king’s grace ? That was brave. 

A tug on his sleeve interrupted his thoughts. He looked around, and then finally down to see a grubby child wearing a potato sack. The child’s long ratty hair fell in strands over their face, but nothing could obscure the wicked grin the child was throwing at him, or the fact that the thing had only one eye. The spot where the other eye should have been was instead covered with grotesque stitching and scars. 

“Uh,” Finn hadn’t understood children as a soldier, and he still hadn’t learned much. They’d always seen through his disguise of authority and armor, ready to throw rotten vegetables. “Do you need something ? Are you lost ?”

The child had flowers woven into their hair, and their hands held behind them while they rocked back and forth from their heels to the balls of their shoeless feet. 

“Are you lost ?” Finn asked again. If Rose were here she’d have asked where the child’s mother was, or pull out her signet ring to indicate they were of castle Organa. The signet had a powerful pull wherever they went, especially among the orphaned and destitute who’d seen the rising symbol of the phoenix in the early war years, or in their campfire stories. 

The child took their hands from behind their back and opened their equally dirty fists. Finn choked on his own shock. 

_ Hair-- _ raven black human hair-- was the prize they showed him. Finn’s face morphed into three emotions all equal to horror, but the demon kid raised their hands high above their head. The long lock of raven hair braided with beads and other wild accoutrements came into greater detail. 

“Ah, wow...So cute...Awesome….” Finn stumbled with his words. 

The child began to offer their hands forward, offering him the hair that clearly wasn’t their own.

“How did you even get in here ?” Finn helplessly looked to anyone, any of the drunken farmers who should be teaching the child that being creepier than the mists of The Outer Rimmed Woods was rude. 

The child’s smile increased, pleased by Finn’s fidgeting and shoving away. 

“Oh sweet gods, please leave--” 

“Hey !” A barmaid armed with a broom shouted, the child’s lone eye grew wide as they began to back away from Finn in an animalistic crouch. “I told you to stay away, urchin.” 

The barmaid sped forward and knocked her broom into the child. The child hissed and moved to scamper away, but not before looking at Finn with a piteous glance. They were rewarded with another smack, this time sending them sprawling and running for the door. 

Finn would have thanked the barmaid, but the sadism in her eyes stopped him cold. 

“Thing didn’t bother you too much did it ?” The barmaid wielded her broom in a fashion that brought back memories Finn kept locked away. 

“No, just begging for scraps…..”

“Don’t talk to it. The devil’s pet comes in here at least once a week, stirring up trouble.” 

Finn’s revolusion turned to curiosity. “The devil’s child ?”

The barmaid narrowed her eyes and took to sweeping the floor again--making a show of ignoring him now. She started talking at the floor in a means of keeping herself secretive, “You come into our village looking all fancy, do you ? Fearing nothin’ and stirring up trouble.”

“No ? Yes ? I mean-” 

Attention in the bar had shifted from depression drinks, to Finn and the barmaid’s hostile and confusing conversation. 

A chorus of drunken men slurred, “Mary, is he bothering you ?”

Finn slammed three credits onto the bar’s table and left in the same rush as the urchin child had.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He learned the villager’s hated three things: outsiders, the child, and the child’s keeper. 

Finn asked, casually as he could, but even the nicest of individuals soured when he mentioned the one eyed child, or their penitent for coming into the village. 

‘It belongs to the devil,’ or ‘It brings bad luck’ were the responses he got. Finally, another village boy playing with his friends gave him the time of day.

“Yeah, we like to throw things at it when we can. It’s the wizard’s bastard, we think.” 

Hope flooded Finn. “The wizard ?” 

The kids glanced at each other, nervously smiling. “Yeah...The wizard ...But I wouldn’t say going up there is any good. Mayor tried it and now won’t talk about what he saw. In a few days they’re gonna-” 

Another boy smacked the informant, the gaggle of children all looked askance and moved away from Finn. 

“Who's going to do what ?” Finn looked to each of them, searching for their eyes to make contact with his. “What’s going to happen.”

The boy who’d been speaking to Finn muttered under his breath, “Mayor Hux doesn’t like when he’s made the town clown. They’ll be going to his cave in a few days with fire and pitchforks.”

Finn swallowed and clenched his fists. Even if the wizard wasn’t who they needed, Finn had been dealt a difficult choice. He could run and let the course of these barbaric events take place, or he could warn ‘the devil and the child’. 

“Which way ? Do they have a house near town ?” 

Finn’s new found hope faded as quickly as it had found him; the boy pointed towards a northern path lined with brambles and rolling fog. It was sloped, the gravel along the path looking faintly moist from the mist as well. 

_ Of course.  _

He trekked along the gravelly path, heaving on while carrying his pack. He should have been in better shape; he  _ was  _ in better shape. It was the fog that choked and made his armor grow cold. Soon he no longer saw the path behind him and could only hear his own armors clank. 

Nothing could be scarier than the Borders of the Outer Rim Woods. Nothing could be worse than what Poe, Rose, and Finn intended to do later. It was only fog, Finn assured himself. It was only fog, and only twisting vines, and only him and his sword (forged himself) and armor (created with Rose’s help). 

He liked to think she was with him when he had it on. Her brains and love of metal working extending to keeping him safe when she wasn’t near enough to disinfect his wounds or call him a dummy. 

Humming helped, and when he was so bold, Finn even whistled. The silence could be defeated if nothing else. It would alert someone of his arrival, hopefully someone good. It was a very ‘Poe’ thing to do, fearlessly alerting the world to his presence. He could pretend he was brave, that would impress the wizard and get them what they needed. He continued his tune, unperturbed, until his song was repeated back to him. Finn almost shrieked like a lady in waiting, because atop a rock sat the child. 

They crouched like a cat and whistled like a bird staring down from a small jutting edge. 

Finn cleared his throat and put on a soldier’s seriousness. “Hello, I’m here to see your caretaker. I have urgent news for him.” It came out smooth and controlled, but still the child rocked on their heels and whistled to mimic Finn’s tune. “O-Okay, yeah that’s great…..Really creepy and great...”

The child leapt with impossible dexterity from the ledge to Finn’s feet. They were fearless, and gently took Finn’s gloved hand. Through his armor he shivered. 

“So,” Finn let the word trail. He remembered Poe leading him to castle Organa for the first time. Poe had made jokes the whole way through the dark of night, distracting Finn from every sound that made him jump, and promising over and over again that Finn would be safe there. “How old are you ?”

There was no response, finally after an impossible length of time, which could have been five minutes or an hour, the child stopped and motioned for him to stay behind a rock at the mouth of a cave. Finn could smell herbs and spices wafting from a heat that lead to the entrance of the cave. 

“Wait, shit, don’t leave me-” Finn grabbed the child’s wrist. “What are you going to say to him ?”

The child shrugged and pointed back to Finn, and then at the cave. 

“If he comes out and shoots me with lightning: I’m gonna run, understood ?” Finn didn’t add that the mist and fog would lead him to breaking his neck on a tree root. Most of the time his threats turned to bluff. 

The small creature waddled away, leaving Finn to listen as much as he could. He could still smell the hair heavy with fog and the scents from the cave. It had been a few hours since he’d eaten. 

A moment passed, and then came the first voice he’d heard since he left the village and climbed the trail: “What have I told you of bringing people to my home ?” 

Finn stuttered, almost pulling out his sword and running into merciless fog, but the voice continued talking not at him, but instead what Finn guessed was the child. 

“I don’t care if he’s funny, you can’t invite people to my cave.” 

There was another pause. Finn strained to listen and remain hidden all at once, despite the cold air he was sweating. The voice was low, tired sounding. It had to be the wizard. 

“You’re sure he’s of castle Organa ?” Arrogance, and a heavy dosage of doubt now colored the inflection of his words. Finn shook, how had the creature known where he heralded from ? “Yes, yes, I know how you enjoy the lock of hair test.”

Finn’s own breathing sounded loud. 

“Bring him in...He's been listening the entire time.” 

_ Well, this would be a better death than getting eaten by a Rathtar in the Outer Rim Woods.  _

The little creature’s bare feet hit the stone in a run and bound towards Finn. They looked supremely pleased with themself, and for the first time Finn wondered if the child was human. Finn contemplated what it would be like to be eaten by a wizard living in a cave, and then he wondered if Rose and Poe would have a funeral for him. He had no family crest. Maybe Poe would have Finn’s non-existent corpse cremated under his own family’s banner ? 

The smell of cooking hit Finn, his eyes watered and any hope of appearing more dignified was gone. He rubbed them and blinked back till his vision cleared. The cave wasn’t as big as he’d expected. Modest in size, but wonderous in treasure, Finn took note of the many rugs, metal clockwork, crystals, and trinkets. The set up was overwhelming, but orderly to an excessive degree, and in the center of the extreme series of wonders sat a man dressed in only black, a sword hilt (without a blade) at his side, curly and long raven hair that went past his ears, and a deceivingly calm demeanor that was unreadable on account of a mask that covered the top part of the man’s face and only left the mouth and lower jaw visible. 

“You’re the soldier ?” The man asked, in the same neutral tone of his silvered runged black mask. “I was expecting someone taller.”

“And I was expecting someone older,” Finn couldn’t help himself. Despite the figure’s imposing size and build, there was little difference in age between them. He’d imagined a white beard and a fading blue pointed hat. The femenine looking lips threw him a curve. “I mean, not that I really knew what to expect. Your child didn’t give me anything to go off.”

The child was standing attentively by the wizard’s side. They scrunched their nose at their ownership being prescribed to the wizard. 

“You’re not aware of Niney’s persona ?” The wizard frustratingly cocked his head to the side, in mock confusion and interest. The wizard turned to the child and wordlessly ordered them to wait outside with nothing but a glance. “Forgive them, it’s in a Brownie’s nature to be mischievous. That one gave their eye for wisdom, and now they let themselves go too far with tormenting the masses below. Boredom tends to do that to them.” 

“Wait, like a BB Squire ?” Poe had few loves: a good sword fight, Lady Organa --his queen and matriarch, and his small BB squire. Eighty was a pudgy looking child who kept their hair covering one of their eyes. The look of the fey that has chosen Poe was deceiving. “Only knights have Brownie squires.”

The wizard’s calmness faltered, his lips sneering and shoulders tensing. The villagers had said multitudes about him: he was a devil, a monster, a fiend hiding in the guise of a man. 

Finn didn’t reach for his sword yet, though. He was here for diplomacy, and also to ensure this man didn’t meet a terrible fate via noose or a burning stake. 

“You come from castle Organa to mock me ?” The wizard suddenly sounded petulant. It was a strange transition from wisened figure to peer and equal. 

“No, jeez...I’ve been sent on a quest to gather forces and figures that could aid The General in a mission to find the lost bloodline of Skywalker.” That was the script he and Poe had gone over. It sounded regaler than ‘suicide mission’. 

The air grew cold, the fog increased, and with it Finn realized he might have been a fool for coming here alone. 

Finn held his breath, his hand rested at his thigh and deceivingly. One sign and he’d flee. Poe would have fought it out, go down swinging in a blaze of glory. Finn didn’t hold those same values; Rose and him had agreed on the hope that there was value in living to fight another day. 

It turned out Finn wasn’t as subtle as he thought the half-masked figure spoke confidently; “I don’t feel like attacking you.”

Finn bit the inside of his lip and then moved to rest his hand on his sword’s hilt, “Yeah ? and neither do I, but I’ve been raised for war.” 

It was then that Finn realized the entrance to the cave was gone, mist and the smoke in the air grew less mysterious, and outwardly oppressive. 

“That’s not it,” The wizard had the fog thickened, so that the only thing Finn could see was him. “You’re too nobel. You’re conflicted in that you crave safety, but you hate standing by--” A blinding pressure filled Finn’s head, memories and visions pierced him--”You don’t think Skywalker can save them; but you love a girl whose hope is tied to your mission.”

Finn stood, with his eyes shut and a fury he hadn’t felt since- 

“You had every right to kill your old queen, Phasma, I can’t understand why you feel guilt over it.” Memories of his time with the Iron Chrome Queen, raised to only do one thing, the flaws in his thinking, the lack of love he felt for Phasma. 

Finn laughed, and took advantage of the recoil in the wizard’s reaction. “It was like killing my brothers’ parents, how could I not feel some guilt ? A hundred thousand soldiers wandered the countryside without hope of anyone letting them into their castles. I got lucky saving one of Organa’s best knights”

“Was it your luck ? Or was it your calculation ?”

_ I don’t know. I just wanted to leave. I set Poe free and he offered me an escape. What else could I have done ? What would you have done if your hero and leader was a liar, a monster, a murderer ? _

The fog abruptly lifted, they were back to the small cavern. The brownie named Niney scampered up to the wizard, allowing him to rest his hand atop their head. The energy that had left the room also had the wizard breathing heavily and faintly shaking. 

The wizard cleared his throat, trying to regain the regality of before. He’d seen something in Finn that had shaken him. “To your request: my answer is no. Luke Skywalker will remain hidden in the mists of the Outer Rim. Anyone travelling there is guaranteed death.” 

Finn bit the inside of his lip. “I didn’t get to ask. You just nabbed it from my head.” The wizard’s heavy breathing and visible strain boosted Finn’s resolve to speak boldly. “For your information; anyone staying near this village is guaranteed a lengthy and humiliating end as well.” 

The wizard eyed him with a painfully neutral expression, flickers of frustration surfacing as the man squeezed Niney’s shoulder. If Finn could only see his eyes, then he’d know. Niney didn’t speak, but began to tap a code on the wizards hand.

“Niney claims they intend to burn me at the stake. Is this true ?” 

Finn looked into the single eye of the Brownie. “Yeah, it’s true. It’s the mayor you humiliated.” 

“Who ?”

Finn couldn’t hold back his laughter, “The guy who runs the village ?”

The wizard still looked confused. 

“The guy who came to your cave. You scared him. He has red hair, taxes the villagers, pasty skin ? Huxley ? Hux ?”

The wizard nodded, giving Finn the idea that this man had completely forgotten who he was dealing with. It had to be a mixture of pride and something else that drove him. Poe had pride, but Poe was boisterous. The muscular man in front of Finn, with his long arms and robes, had an awkward flare about him. What was this man ? Was he human ? Or was he like the fey creature who was now leaning against his back affectionately. 

“The Force is testing me.” The wizard whispered. 

“What...did you say something about his mom ?” Finn jabbed sarcastically. 

The wizard tilted his head in that same confused manner as before. 

Finn continued speaking, “Uh, yeah. Does this mean you’ll reconsider ? castle Organa can pay well and we won’t try to set you on fire.” Finn’s negotiating skills began to falter as the wizard furiously threw pots and pans into a sack. 

“Niney, prepare the newts eye.” The wizard ordered, no longer listening to Finn. 

The Brownie walked up to Finn, giving him a thumbs up and smiling. 

“You’re coming with me then ?”

“If I must.” 

Finn looked around at the entirety of the cave, “Are we taking all of this ?”

“No.”

“I could send someone back to come collect it-”

“It’s not mine.”

Finn felt less certain by the second, “Do you have a title, sir wizard ?”

“Kylo Ren,” The wizard pulled a sword hilt from his belt, Finn was about to comment that a hilt without a blade was useless. The words were never said, because suddenly from the hilt an amazing energy erupted giving shape to a blade of fire. He sliced at the chains holding a trunk, and proceeded to further pack his bags. The wizard was rummaging through the objects like the gods had told him he had to leave in an instant. “Lord Kylo Ren of the olden Knights of Ren.” 

“Oh.” What have I done, Finn thought.

\--------------------------

“If they didn’t have pitchforks, or look so angry, maybe we could’ve pretended they’re a parade.” Finn tried to gauge the emotions of Kylo Ren. The glow of a dozen torches, held by villagers and farmers alike, cast shadows across the half mask and still lower jaw. 

Niney leaned against Kylo Ren’s leg. A normal child might hide their face against him, but Niney was a sprite of magic and was moving their mouth into a snarl at the crowd coming towards them. They looked excited. 

Kylo turned to Finn, calculating. “I’ve done this before.”

“Excuse me ?” 

“Last time I had aid. Another more human woman who could talk like you can, make light of things, diffuse their violent ignorance back to just ignorance.”

Finn felt a hint of pity for the wizard. Stranger, loner, and with a history that now included another person. Not just fabled dread warriors, or a small sidekick. 

“I knew the stranger was your work, demon.” Finn hadn’t met Mayor Huxley, but the stories hadn’t exaggerated his demeanor, nor the loudness and whine of his voice. “Called a renegade soldier to stand beside you ?”

“The Force brought him to me.” The wizard spoke like he was describing the color of the sky. 

Kylo Ren ignored the scoffs of the mayor and the townspeople’s worried glances. They’d expected him to throw himself at their feet. This could go bad. 

“No need to worry, he’s leaving with me,” Finn put his hands up in the way Poe did at the taverns during a card game gone sour. The universal gesture of, ‘everyone calm down’. 

“That’s not going to work with them…” Kylo murmured, effectively sending more of the town into a fit. Finn could understand their fear. They were raggedy compared to him, who was built tall and wide. He’d been sitting when Finn met him, standing up he was six feet tall with a soldier’s back at attention. 

Huxley puffed out his chest, “An agreement perhaps ? Or an exchange can be made ? Renegade soldier please don’t tell me you’ve been seduced by this crack-pots lies. If not then, both your deaths will suffice.”

“You’re truly terrified of me ?” Kylo cocked his head in the same demeaning way he had with Finn, but for some reason it actually got a reaction from the people. “How is your cough Mayor Hux ? The pain in your chest hasn’t lessened since my prognosis of you ?”

_ Oh, so that’s what this is about.  _

The villagers were now confused, their tyrant mayor looked mortified.

“You’ve cursed me--” Huxley jabbed his finger at Niney. “Your creature lies and so do you, heretics, fiends, demons.” 

“You’ll be dead in three months time, and unfortunately not because of me.” The wizard’s magic was palpable, stronger than the fog that had encircled Finn on the mountain. It was a wordless command and strength. “A new mayor should be elected...Perhaps the son you’re hiding ? Or the daughter with the barmaid ? How about the poor bastard, boy farmer you denounced ?”

The villagers were more traditional than Finn had ever thought. Their anger was now directed at Hux. 

Kylo took the hand of his Brownie Squire, looked to Finn with a gesture of his head forward, and then began to move towards the crowd. 

The crowd parted for them, and Finn felt himself almost wanting to laugh. Crazed and victorious. 

\-----------------------------

They didn’t stop to rest much, Kylo Ren for all his power and show of force kept looking over his shoulder and demanding they continue onwards. Finn wondered how the guy could cover so much ground amidst his long and heavy dark robes. It was Niney who got them to rest, the creature bit at Kylo’s hand and demanded food by making low whining noises. 

Finn poked at the fire, eyeing his travelling companion who’d begun sprinkling white powder around their campfire and mumbling to himself. 

“You sleep, right ?” Finn hadn’t decided whether Kylo was human. The wizard sweat like a man, occasionally swore under his breath like a soldier, and had to ingest food. Jury was still out though, Finn didn’t appreciate the way the wizard stared off into the distance, listening for things that only he could hear. He didn’t take his mask off when he slept.

Niney wasn’t much better, in fact the creature was almost feral. Finn caught them going through his things one day. 

“I’ve slept.” Kylo Ren answered and Finn rolled his eyes. 

Finn laid his bedroll out, wondering how best to explain to Poe who he’d found. Wizard, eldritch knight, cryptic, mind reader.    
  


“You don’t need him. You know that, right ?” Kylo Ren was still sprinkling fine white powder around the fire, but Finn knew he was talking about him. 

“Look,” Finn said. “If you’re going to be traveling with us you can’t- You can’t do that.”

Kylo Ren stared at him. Same blank expression, same strangeness, Finn could tell he was pretty, that was the fact. “So much of what you do is for him, for her. It’s commendable at times, but you’re holding back. You’re modeling yourself off of them.”

“I- Look, I don’t know if this sort of thing flies in the fey world of whatever, but-”

“My last companion felt similarly. She’ll like you.”

_ Oh. _

It suddenly made sense to Finn why the wizard had buckled and decided to join him, “You’re looking for someone in the mists too ?”

Kylo Ren sighed and sat with his legs crossed for meditation, ending their conversation before it could begin.

\-------------------------------

Finn couldn’t get so much as a word from Kylo Ren afterwards. They travelled in utter silence, leaving Finn to attempt to guard his thoughts. He caved, and pulled Niney aside one morning while Ren was out in the woods (the wizard would come and go, he’d left Finn on his own once for a day and was frustrated by Finn’s fear when he returned). 

“Is it a sister ?” Finn had shoved a stick into the BB squire’s fist and was having them write out cryptic answers in the dirt.

“ _ Not blood sister.”  _ BB held up a hand when Finn started to ask more, meaning she was explaining. “ _ Mirror.” _

The ‘m’ in mirror was scratchy in the dirt and underlined. 

“A lover ?” He had a hard time believing any woman would be interested in Kylo Ren’s personality, even if the guy had flowing raven locks and pouty lips like a prince. Finn had caught himself staring a few times. 

Niney stabbed at the word ‘mirror’ and started to write more, faster now, “ _ Moon, sun--bad if apart.”  _

“Say it in human. Lover or not ?”

Niney rolled their eyes and gave Finn a thumbs up. 

“Nod once for yes, twice for no: she’s in the Outer Rim.”

Niney scowled at him, but after some contemplation did nod once. 

“Okay, good. That’s a start. Are Kylo Ren’s eldritch buddies going to come after us ?”

Niney’s mouth and face squished as they shrugged and emphatically moved their hands. 

“Okay, uh, how about...Is he an enemy of castle Organa ?”

Niney pinched the bridge of their nose and looked to the sky. 

Finn felt the same, “I don’t like that these aren’t yes or no questions.”

\------------------

They were two days away from castle Organa. The air had been tense between their trio, not enough room for them to be paying attention. 

Hindsight is a wonder. 

A lumbering creature, somehow that they hadn’t heard first, swung with massive fists from the underbrush. Part bear, part nightmare, and darker than an evergreen forest with a matted fur coat. 

Kylo Ren’s sword of fire and Finn’s steel took to flanking it. Finn’s swings were lighter, he moved agily to and fro, favoring his right side more so than his left. 

“Behind me !” Ren shouted--no--commanded. Even the obstinate Niney heeded his warning. The BB Squire darted behind Finn as the creature arched a claw towards their side. 

In an incredible feat of nature, Ren lifted and slammed his hand in the air. It was a pantomime of a brute force. The creature’s skull caved, and the body fell. It was grizzly, and Finn knew he shouldn’t have felt bad for the animal. It was only an animal and they had every right to-

Ren turned, he reached for the latches on the side of his mask and ripped the appendage off, staring over Finn’s shoulder in horror. It was not the first full expression Finn wanted to see on a man who’d just murdered a beast using magic. Finn turned to see Niney limping towards them both. In the fray they must have been hit, if the creature had been a real child they would have heard a yelp or scream. Instead, the Brownie squire limped towards Ren. Ren effortlessly lifted them over his shoulder, like a draped carpet. So much for gentleness, Finn thought. 

“We’re making camp.” Ren declared, but his typical stoic nature was giving way to the flashes of emotion Finn had caught hints of throughout their travels. Subtle and small cracks in Ren that were growing into fissures. It was horrifying to see it so blatantly placed without the mask. 

Kylo Ren was young, beautiful, but impossibly frightened at the moment. Finn was understanding the mask more and more. 

“I’ve got bandages in my pack, also some tonic that healers at-”

“Tell me about castle Organa again and it will be your last words.” The knight set his bedroll down and lowered the squire onto it. The squire didn’t whine or scream like a human, but it was bleeding like a human. Red and messy and painfully mortal. Kylo had turned away from Finn, but he could see the wizard’s shoulders shaking with fear and anger. 

“Just take the tonic.” Finn didn’t risk touching Kylo’s shoulder. He was being daring enough trying to talk down the crazed warrior. Niney’s gaze was growing distant. 

“You were right,” Kylo sputtered out an admission, and for a second Finn didn’t know what he meant. “You must be a knight to have a squire chose you. You must be honorable in life and your duty to have a creature of the Force chose you as it’s ally.”

Niney reached a small cudgeled fist up, and rubbed it against Kylo’s face. These two magical creatures were vulnerable before Finn. Like Rose talking about her sister, or Poe sitting by Leia Organa’s bedside. Kylo must have taken off the mask specifically for Niney. 

Finn got the tonic out of his bag, making his way to the other side of Niney. As he poured it to their lips, he took a quick glimpse at Ren. The man was eyeing him, probably reading his mind for signs of betrayal. 

“I saw you cave in somethings skull, I’m not stupid enough to betray you.” Finn could tell the wizard was going to start prying into his head. “You could ask me, I’d tell you the truth.”

“Why did you seek me out ?”

Finn shrugged, “I never believed in miracles. I thought if we were going up against the odds why not start changing that.” 

Kylo’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not some fix all for the Outer Rim.”

“Yeah, I know.” Finn didn’t rise to take Kylo’s bait. He clearly wanted to argue for the sake of venting. Finn wasn’t in the mood. 

Strangely, this caused Kylo to pause. Like he was shocked Finn wouldn’t insult him back.

“Is Organa well ?”

Finn rubbed the back of his neck, this wasn’t a yes or no question. “She’s alive.”

“And Skywalker is meant to save her ?” Ren asked, not knowing that Finn had similar fears. 

Finn repeated the answer Poe had given him: “Skywalker was supposed to save all of us.”

\-----------------------

“Did they tell you why Skywalker left ?” Kylo and him had set up a campfire, Niney sleeping for the first time since they’d started traveling. They’d both had to rest their minds like normal mortals. Niney instead had just rested their body. It was a tad hypocritical that Poe had been open to critique Finn’s theories on magic and arcane traces; and yet his squire was one of these creatures. 

“Why would they ?” Finn answered nonchalantly. 

Kylo narrowed his eyes, maskless and perplexed. It was going to be weird getting used to his facial expressions. “You went to go find a Force user- They had to have sent their best.”

Finn smiled at him, “My friends let me go so that I’d shut up about it. Apparently Luke Skywalker is as real as it gets for them.”

“That’s- That’s hypocritical.”

Finn laughed, “Yeah, I know ! Your turn.”

The wizard blinked back in surprise, “I don’t follow.”

There was hope yet for their friendship, “You said that Niney wasn’t your squire. Then your companion had like true heart of something.” 

Kylo Ren ran a hand through his hair and looked away. “She  _ has  _ a true heart. She is alive.”

_ Just like Rose’s sister. _

Finn continued, “Family ? Girlfriend ? Hot girlfriend ?”

Ren scoffed, “Nothing so domestic.”

“Try me.”

Kylo let the air simmer long enough that Finn thought he wasn’t going to tell him. 

“She’s human, humble beginnings. Junk traders from desolate lands. I met her on one of my travels. She’s-” He sounded reverent. Finn didn’t think it was possible. “She is my mirror image, and I believe she can help me bring balance to the Force.”

_ Great, just fantastic.  _

“You doubt me ?”

“Sorry if the whole world is full of terrible monsters, wizards, and an unexplored death world called the Outer Rim. Sorry that I’m freaked out because fundamentally nothing isn’t ever not terrible.”

Kylo continued, “Rey was bewildered too. Niney found her first. It was terrible when she left to find Skywalker. Niney refused to stay behind with me, but the situation played as such. You finding me was more than luck, it was the first indication that the Force hadn’t abandoned us.”

“And the Force is your magic ?”

“Much more, so much more.”

Finn threw another log into their campfire, attempting further to make his curiosity non-apparent. “Why didn’t you go with her ?” 

Kylo Ren swallowed, his throat bobbing and his face tensing up. 

Suddenly Finn felt guilty, he’d known Ren for only a short time. The level of pain in his features was brutally vulnerable. 

After a long few minutes, Ren answered him. “I was a coward.”

Four short words held a long and sad story. Finn decided he would leave it there. 

\-------------------

“Thank you.”

“Did-- Did you just thank me ?” Finn, Kylo, and a tired Niney looked over the hill into the valley where castle Organa rested. It was story book in every way: spires, marble whitestone, parapets with elegant carved statuettes. 

“I did.” Kylo shifted Niney’s weight, he’d been carrying the BB Squire the entire way back. Rey’s Squire. 

“Friends then ?” He couldn’t wait to see the look on Poe’s face when he showed him Kylo Ren using magic to crush and lift rocks. 

“Don’t be so bold.”

“Oh. Cool.”  _ God, Poe is gonna have a time pissing this guy off.  _

“You are...You are confusing, Finn.” Kylo said. It was the first time he’d called Finn by his name. “I am glad of all the knights, she took a chance on you.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s what friends say to other friends.”

Kylo’s face reddened. And to the shock of both men, Niney let out an audible chuckle. 


End file.
